Theater News

Thoughts of a Colored Man Announces World Premiere Casting

The play is written by Keenan Scott II.

Forrest McClendon will be featured in the world premiere of Thoughts of a Colored Man.
Forrest McClendon will be featured in the world premiere of Thoughts of a Colored Man.
(© Tristan Fuge)

The casting for the world premiere of Keenan Scott II's Thoughts of a Colored Man has been announced. A coproduction of both Syracuse Stage and Baltimore Center Stage, the play will premiere first in Syracuse, September 4-22, and then in Baltimore, October 10-November 10.

Thoughts of a Colored Man will feature Jerome Preston Bates, Brandon Dion Gregory, Forrest McClendon, Reynaldo Piniella, Ryan Jamaal Swain, Jody Reyndard, Garrett Turner, dancers Ashley Pierre-Louis and Hollie E. Wright, and D.J. Chesney Snow. As previously announced, the production will be directed by Steve H. Broadnaux III and choreographed by Millicent Marie Johnson.

The creative team will include Te'La and Brother Kamau (music), Robert Brill (set design), Toni-Leslie James and Devario D. Simmons (costume design), Ryan O'Gara (lighting design), Sven Ortel (projection design), and Mikaal Sulaiman (sound design).

The play is described as follows: "As the sun rises on an ordinary day in New York, seven men are about to discover the extraordinary. Written by Keenan Scott II, one of today's boldest new voices, Thoughts of a Colored Man blends language, music, and dance into a daringly universal new play. Welcome to the vibrant inner life of being Black, proud, and thriving in the 21st Century. Set over a single day, this richly theatrical mosaic goes beyond the rhythms of the basketball court and the boisterousness of the barbershop. It sheds brilliant light into the hearts and minds of a community of men searching for their most triumphant selves. And what they reveal are the deeply human hopes, dreams, fears, and sensitivities of all men, all people."

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Thoughts of a Colored Man

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